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“I have tried to repay them by doing good performances, but I have an agent who deals with the interest. I do not want to be bothered with it. I just want to play my football.”

This is just the reality. After all, Everton have benefited from Lukaku being in a hurry to succeed.

It was his unwillingness to wait in the wings at Chelsea which forced his loan moves from Stamford Bridge and then his decision to push for a £28m permanent switch to Goodison Park in the summer of 2014 that enabled him to take giant strides towards fulfilling his potential.

A return of 25 goals thus far this season - Arsenal come within range today - reveals a player on a dizzy ascent while Everton thrash around in mid-table even if the FA Cup offers a glint of silverware. The difficulty comes if those differing trajectories continue.

“Well, then you have to talk,” said Lukaku. “But the talk will be between me and the manager. We have an open relationship. I will be honest enough with him to say what I think.

“I am 23 this summer. I have been playing since I was 16 and never had a taste of the Champions League. It is going to be seven years. You think about it. If it is going to happen, it is going to happen.

“Champions League football is really the next step, but I am not really thinking about it, because there are 10 games to go and we have something great to achieve in the FA Cup.

“In the league, if we give the maximum in the next ten games, we will see from there.

“We can turn it around and I will do everything to take my team forward to glory.”

The fluctuations in Everton’s form have fuelled supporter discontent, though they are no more bearable for the players.

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“As a player you always want the best and you see how we have performed sometimes and yet you go home scratching your head thinking: ‘How did that happen?’” he said.

“It has been two years of underperforming. As bad as it sounds, it is the truth. Look at the players we have.”

He does not seek personal comfort, but it can be measured in his goals return boosted by that brace against Chelsea in the FA Cup last weekend.

It takes Lukaku around 20-seconds to relay how he aimed at wrecking ball at his former club’s season with that mazy dribble when the goal itself nestled in Thibaut Courtois’ net barely six seconds after the striker collected a pass from Ross Barkley.

Was he playing purely on instinct?

“I know what I’m doing,” said Lukaku. “At one point when I came inside when Azpilicueta came to me I was a bit lost. But then I can see clearly an image like on a camera.

“I see Azpilicueta behind me, Ivanovic just inside, Mikel here, Cahill here, so I thought ‘let me just try and see’ and then it’s determination and skill.”

Yet despite his progress something remains elusive.

“I would mark myself 8 (out of 10), maybe 8 and a half – because in the first half I was good in the build-up, holding the ball up, but the clear cut chances weren’t there,” he adds. “That’s why I wouldn’t give myself more.

“I’ve given myself a couple of nines before, but not a 10. A 10 is a hat-trick.”